Heart of Metal
by 11chiyochan
Summary: One-shot: "Winry, I...I found some straw in the backyard today. And...I transmuted it into something..." "...So here I am, Winry," he whispered, "down on one automail knee, asking you to...to..." EdXWinry


_**I own an FMA calendar, the FMA DVD Box Set Volumes 7 – 13, a really cute Chibi Edward keychain, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie – Conqueror of Shamballa, a big cushion with Edward's angry face on it, and over a million FMA pictures. Sadly, the one thing I don't own that is FMA is of course the series. If I owned it, I wouldn't be here writing this fanfic, instead I'd be out there producing this into the episodes.**_

* * *

**Laura:** Hello there! This is my first FMA fanfic. Huzzah!

**Edward:** (reads off palm card) This is a one-shot about how Edwa-...!!

**Laura:**...Ed? Edward, keep reading it!

**Edward: **_WHAT THE HELL_?! Laura, what are you writing something like this for?! You _idiot_!!

**Winry: **Here, let me see. (reads card) ...waaah!! Laura, what's your problem?!

**Laura:** Are one of you going to read it out or not?

**Ed:** NO!!

**Winry:** (grabs spanner)

**Laura:** Okay fine, I'll just get Envy to read it out then.

**Envy:** Awesome. (grins evilly)

**Ed:** Wah...NO!! Gimme that! (snatches card) Fine, it says...it says...

**Envy: **Hurry up, pipsqueak, we don't have all day y'know.

**Ed:** ...shut up, bastard!...it says...that this is a one-shot of how Edward might go about...about...

**Laura:** C'mon, say it!

**Edward: **(mumbles something unintelligible)

**Laura: **What was that?

**Envy:** (cups ear) I'm sorry pipsqueak, I couldn't hear ya!

**Ed:** I said...(mumble mumble mumble)

**Laura: **Ed, I'm serious, I _will _get Envy to read it if you don't.

**Ed:** Damn you! Fine, it says...how Edward might go about...about...proposing to Winry.

**Winry:** (anime falls)

**Envy:**...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

**Ed:** SHUT UP, YOU BASTARD!! (transmutes arm into blade)

**Laura:** Okay, this could get ugly...lets cut to the story, fast! Enjoy!

* * *

**Laura:** Oh, and by the way, this is set at the Rockbell's house in Risenbool! Just thought I'd let you know. XD

* * *

_Heart of Metal_

"Just do it, brother!"

Be quiet, Al! I'll do it later."

"No! Stop putting it off, brother, or you'll never get it done!"

"Will you show some faith in your brother, please?! I _will_ do it later!"

"Brother, if you don't do it now, I'll go in there and tell her myself!"

"...you wouldn't dare."

"_Winry_!"

"SHUT UP!!"

Edward pounced on his younger brother, and they fell to the ground with a crash. Ed smacked his head on the wooden floorboards and earned himself a large bald lump on his head, whilst Al's head came loose and clattered across the room.

"Oww..." Edward moaned, rubbing his head. The headless Al scrambled up and searched the floor blindly for his missing helmet. "Look what you did, brother!" he exclaimed, sounding annoyed. Edward stood himself up, swaying a little as he adjusted his balance. Suddenly the door slammed open, and a furious blond girl stood in the doorway, holding a spanner.

"CAN YOU GUYS BE QUIET FOR _ONE MINUTE_?! I'M TRYING TO WORK! FIXING AUTOMAIL _DOES_ REQUIRE A LITTLE PEACE AND QUIET, Y'KNOW!!"

Edward yelped and took shelter behind his little brother's armored body, and Al pushed his head back into place again. "Winry, calm down!" Al said worryingly, waving his hands in front of him nervously. "Brother just wanted to ask you something!"

"N-n-no I didn't!" Edward stammered. There was no way he was going to talk to Winry when she was in a mood like this.

Alphonse turned around, and Edward jumped back as his younger brother glared at him in a very evil way. "_Oh yes you __did_," he growled, and Edward shrunk back. How did Al manage to make an expressionless suit of armor look so scary? "Okay, okay then!" he surrendered, holding his arms above his head. Winry frowned at the two siblings. "Would _someone_ mind telling me what exactly it is you want to ask me?" she asked.

Edward dropped his hands and hung his head. "Winry..." he said in a low voice, "...could you...come outside for a little bit, please?"

Winry's face softened at Edward's serious tone, and she put down her spanner on her workbench and pulled on her shoes. "Uh, yeah. Sure," she replied. Al stepped aside as she stepped out of her workroom, and Edward turned and began to walk briskly out of the house, his head still hanging down. Winry followed him out the front door and down the front steps, and they were soon walking out into the open grass plain of Risenbool.

No sooner had Edward and Winry left, Aunt Pinako strutted into the room. "And what was that all about?" she asked, eying the half-open front door with raised eyebrows. Alphonse's eyes narrowed in a mischievous way, and he lent down so he was eye to eye with the old pipe-smoking woman. "Well you see, brother is going to..." he whispered into her ear.

* * *

"So what was it that you wanted me for, Ed?"

Both he and Winry were sitting on one of the many grass-covered hilltops across the landscape, a fair walk away from the automailist's house. Edward still had his head hanging down, and Winry was looking at him questioningly. He hadn't said anything since they had left the house, and Winry was beginning to worry. The silence droned on, and Winry fidgeted uncomfortably. '_I wonder what's on his mind,_' she thought. After a few more minutes of enduring the silence, she couldn't take it anymore. "Ed, if you're not going to say anything, then I'm going back," she told him, standing up to leave.

Edward's head snapped up, and he suddenly grabbed onto Winry's wrist, jerking her to a stop. "No, wait!" he exclaimed, and Winry turned to look at him. He looked almost...fearful?

Edward suddenly seemed to realize that he had grabbed Winry's hand, and he turned scarlet, and quickly let go, looking in another direction. Winry stayed frozen into place, her arm still hanging in the air. "Please," Edward said quietly. "Please, stay a little longer, Winry."

Winry blinked at the way he had said her name. It was soft, quiet, delicate; Edward had never spoken to her like that before. Slowly she lowered herself back down and sat on the grass again. Edward wasn't looking at her, but his head wasn't hanging down anymore. He was staring out at the horizon, at the deep orange sun that stained the sky reds and yellows as it set. Winry, having nothing much else to do, stared at it, too. It was silent again.

"It's a nice evening," Edward said abruptly. Winry looked over to him, and his head was resting on his hand. He looked stiff, and he didn't take his eyes off the sun. "Uh, yeah, it...it is," Winry replied, feeling a little awkward. Was Edward trying to make conversation or something?

Edward sneaked a sideways glance at Winry, and she was staring at the sun again. '_Goddammit!_' he cursed at himself. '_You're such an idiot! Hurry up and get this over with!_'

Edward took a deep breath, then spoke again. "W...Winry..." he said quietly. Winry looked over to him, and he felt a strong urge to hide behind his bangs again. '_No way,_' he told himself. '_Just say it, dammit._' He paused, and then looked up at her as well. He met her eyes, and he saw they were filled with concern. '_No wonder,_' he thought. '_She probably thinks I've gone crazy._'

"Winry," he said again, "I...I..." He took another deep breath. "I...found some straw in the backyard today."

Winry blinked, then she pulled a face. "Wait, what?" she asked, staring at him disbelievingly. Edward beat himself up internally. '_You idiot!! Who the HELL would say that?!_' But he forced himself to press on. "I found some straw today," he said again in a weak voice. "And...I transmuted it into something."

Winry frowned slightly. Edward gritted his teeth together, then he slowly reached his hand into his pocket, pulling out a tiny felt box. Edward suddenly realized that if he were going to do this right, Winry needed to be standing and he needed to be kneeling. Abruptly he stood up, and Winry jumped at his sudden movement. "Could you...please stand up?" Edward asked, feeling like a complete dork. Winry gave a small, awkward smile, then obliged. Edward held the box out in his hand so that she could see it. She raised her eyes at it, and looked like she was about to ask him another awkward question. So Edward quickly flicked open the box with his thumb, and Winry gasped. Inside, there was a small, glittering object. A ring, covered in small, clear diamonds that threw orange lights around as they reflected the setting sun's light. Winry's hand flew to her mouth, and she stared at the ring, eyes wide. Edward had never felt more nervous in his entire life. Fighting against Homunculi, searching through Lab 5, even facing up to Teacher all seemed like walks in the park compared to this. Winry finally looked at Edward, looking nothing but shocked. "Edward..." she whispered in a shaky voice. Edward gulped, then very slowly, he bent down and supported himself on one knee, so he was kneeling at Winry's feet. "Winry," he said softly. '_I_ _feel like an idiot_,' he felt like saying to her, but he resisted the urge. "I...I..." he stammered. '_Why the hell is this so difficult to say?!_' he thought. "I...I know that me and Alphonse travel a lot. And I know that we hardly ever come here anymore. But...I want you to forget about that."

Edward fell silent again. '_Now what?_' he thought dumbly. He could see Winry looking at him, half-shocked, half-expectant. Edward could feel himself blushing. He knew he should probably say something like '_I love you,_' but he couldn't bring himself to. '_But Winry's waiting for me to say something else, I can't just stop, dammit!_' he thought, feeling more and more annoyed at himself every passing second. He sucked in another breath, and then finally went on. "So...if you could find a...a place in your heart for me," he said, nearly whispering his voice was so low, "I know that I could find a place in my heart of metal for you."

He looked up at Winry, and saw that she hadn't moved at all. She was still staring at him, one hand over her mouth and eyes wide. Edward began to panic even more. '_What more do I have to say?_' he thought desperately. '_Or did I already screw something up? What if I'm just making a complete fool of myself?!_'

'_C'mon,_' his rational side told him. '_You just need to say one more thing. Don't panic and just say it._'

'_But what if I-_'

'_You won't. Just say it._'

Edward gave in, and he practically forced his mouth to open so he could speak. "So here I am, Winry," he whispered, "down on one automail knee..."

Edward squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed onto Winry's hand. She gasped softly, but Edward kept talking, fearing he might never finish if he stopped now.

"...on one automail knee," he said, his voice rising, "asking you to...to _marry me, Winry_!"

The last part Edward had yelled, in his desperate attempt to force the words out of him. His eyes were still shut tight, and he hadn't let go of Winry's hand. He couldn't feel any movement from her, and she hadn't spoken. Edward began to fear the worst. '_She'll say no,_' he thought dreadingly. '_She's gonna say no, I just know it!_'

"Oh, Edward."

Edward's eyes opened and he looked up at Winry. The first thing he noticed was that there were tears in her eyes. Then he saw that she was _smiling_. Edward gasped, and Winry's smile broadened. She tugged on his hand gently, and he took this as a sign to stand up. He slowly rose up from his kneeling stance until he was upright. Winry held his hand tighter, then she shook her head. "Oh Ed," she said again, "you idiot."

"Idiot?!" Edward exclaimed. "Whaddya mean, _idi_-"

Suddenly Edward was cut off as Winry abruptly yanked out something from behind her back and, in a flurry of silver movement, had swung her arm around and smacked Ed clean on the head. He fell back onto the ground with a yelp, clutching his head. He looked up at Winry, whose face was expressionless. He then noticed in her hand a long silver wrench, glinting in the sun's light.

"What the?!" Ed yelled. "Winry, what the hell was that for? And didn't you leave that thing back at the house?!"

"I left my _spanner_, not my _wrench_, you idiot," she stated. Both of them stared at each other for a few moments. Eventually, Winry sighed, and then dropped the wrench down on the grass. She looked Ed over once more, then she finally smiled, causing Edward to blush again. "I was wondering," she said to him, "when you were going to ask."

Edward blinked, then his mouth dropped open. "Winry..." he croaked. The corner of his mouth slowly turned upwards, into a half smile. Winry's eyes filled up with tears again, tears of joy. She dropped down onto the grass and pulled Edward into a hug. He automatically stiffened and blushed harder; his usual reaction to whenever Winry did things like this. But, for the first time in his whole life, he finally relaxed, and hugged her back.

'_Thank you, Winry._'

"CONGRATULATIONS, BROTHER!!"

Edward and Winry both yelled out in shock, letting go of each other and jumping to their feet. They turned around, and there was Al, standing next to an impressed looking Pinako. Edward and Winry stared at them in absolute disbelief. Ed's hand rose up ever so slowly and pointed at Alphonse. "You..." he stammered, "...you...you...!"

Alphonse tilted his head very slightly to the side. "What's wrong, brother?" he asked, sounding a little concerned. Edward suddenly snapped back to himself.

"**ALPHONSE!!**" he screamed. "**WHAT THE **_**HELL**_** DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE?!**"

Alphonse suddenly looked very afraid, and his hands flew up and shook in front of him in a very Al-like manner. "Ah...umm...I'm...we're..." He looked very distressed. "Ah...don't be mad, brother! We just wanted to know...umm...how it..." Al had no idea how to finish his sentence, and Ed was growing madder by the second.

"**Know **_**what**_**, Alphonse**?" he growled at him, anger marks popping up everywhere on his head. Al flustered even more. "W-well," he stammered, "we wanted to know..._how it turned out_, maybe...?" Alphonse tried saying meekly.

"**WELL COULDN'T YOU HAVE WAITED JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER BEFORE YOU CAME OUT HERE SPYING ON US AL?!**" Edward ranted at his brother. Winry was still frozen stiff, and Pinako was eying the situation with amusement. "Now, now, Ed," she said, "it was my idea to come out here, not your brother's."

"**HOW'S **_**THAT **_**AN EXCUSE?!**" Edward yelled at her. Pinako frowned and looked about ready to yell back at him when Al cut in. "Hey, hey! Can't we just forget we came in at the wrong time and instead celebrate brother's proposal?"

Edward felt himself blush again, and he closed his eyes and clenched his fists, trying to get a grip on his anger. '_Just calm down,_' he told himself. '_It's only Al, and he knew anyway. And Granny Pinako was going to find out soon enough. Just calm down..._'

"Edward," a voice cut through into his thoughts. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes. Winry was looking back at him again, a small smile on her lips. Edward blinked once, then he started to say something, but Winry cut him off. "Of course I will," she said to him. Edward's eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly. "W...Winry..." he whispered, and her smile grew larger. "Of course I'll marry you," she said, tears coming to her eyes again. Edward blinked again, and he looked rather dazed. Slowly, his mouth turned into a dainty smile, and he looked at Winry happily. "Really?" he asked, sounding like a small child. "You really will?"

"Don't make me knock the news into you with the wrench again," Winry threatened, and Edward straightened up automatically. He cleared his throat, and rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed way. "Well..." he said, "...that's great, then!" he decided. Winry laughed and shook her head, although she was seriously thinking about hitting Ed on the head again, because he really looked like he couldn't believe she'd said yes.

"Hooray, brother!" Alphonse cheered. "I told you so!"

"Alphonse, you're really not in the right position to be saying stuff like that right now," Edward warned him, glaring at him in an _I'll-get-you-later_ sort of way. Winry laughed, resting her head on Edward's shoulder. Edward blushed and smiled embarrassingly again, but he sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. '_Well, that went well,_' he thought to himself. Then, thinking over all the events that had just happened, he reconsidered the statement. '_No, that actually went terrible. It just worked out well. Jeez, am I lucky._' He looked at Winry, who had closed her eyes and was smiling happily. Edward brushed a small stray hair out of her face, and she opened her eyes to look at him. Both their smiles broadened, and Edward held her tighter.

'_Am I lucky to finally have you, Winry._'

* * *

**Laura:** Now, for those of you who recognized parts of this fanfic, it is true – I have used some lines from the act that Vic Mignogna (aka the English voice of Edward Elric) and Caitlin Glass (aka the English voice of Winry Rockbell) did at the MegaCon 2008. If you want to watch it, it's on Youtube - type in _Edward proposes to Winry_ and I'm pretty sure it'll come up.

**Edward:** Great. If it wasn't bad enough that she had me and Winry-

**Laura: **_Winry and I_, Ed.

**Edward:** Oh, WHATEVER! If it wasn't bad enough that you had us get married, it's even worse that you had to copy other people's lines to make it! You can't even make your own!

**Laura:** B-b-but...I only used a few lines, nearly all of it I made myself!

**Envy:** Does this mean she's a criminal?

**Laura: **Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!

**Winry:** I don't think so.

**Laura:** Phew!

**Winry:** It just means that she's on the top of my death list.

**Laura:** (anime falls)

**Edward:** Hey! She's on top of _my_ death list!

**Winry: **No way! I'm gonna be the one who kills her!

**Edward:** Nuh uh! I will!

**Laura: **Neither of you will! (runs off)

**Ed/Winry: **Hey! Get back here!! (chase after her)

...

**Laura:** (comes out from hiding spot) Phew! That was close!

**Al:** Hey! Didn't you go running that way?

**Laura:** Nope! That was Envy.

**Al:** But...how'd you get him to do that?

**Laura:** (holds up a coffee machine) I told him I'd give him this.

**Al: **_Ah_.

**Laura:** Please review, everyone! Bai bai!


End file.
